Saturday, 3 March 2018

FATF - setback - Pakistan is a victim of its own inaction

Pakistan
currently resembles the biblical Goliath; big and armed to teeth but stymied by
a myriad of factors such as inaction, inefficiency, institutional paralysis,
inter-institutional tug of war, ill-preparedness, insufficient vision on top
and behavioral intransigence on issues that are virtually existential threats
to the country.

The
embarrassment suffered at the Paris meeting of the Financial Action Task Force
(FATF), which decided to put Pakistan back in the ‘grey’ watch list from June
for insufficient compliance with the globally practiced counter-terror
financing framework, was the latest manifestation of all the aforementioned
factors.

Both
the civilians and the military establishment knew this was coming, but no
credible measures for compliance were taken until a presidential decree allowed
authorities to symbolically seize all of Jamaatud Dawa related assets, only a
few days before the Paris meeting.

None
on the top expected China to blink. But it did. And that was pretty logical. If
key state institutions refuse to understand and admit Chinese global
aspirations and the reasons behind its meteoric economic rise, then issues such
as grey-listing would keep embarrassing the country, and no country would stand
by us.

So
far, the civil-military establishments have been in denial. Now they shall have
to work out a plan of action in consultation with the FATF to begin ‘compliance
to FATF protocols’. This also includes the primary driver of the ‘grey-listing’
– the Indian concerns. New Delhi has convinced Washington and even Beijing that
Pakistan’s compliance to FATF requirements will be credible only if it
conclusively acts against the ‘terrorist infrastructure’ (Jamaatud Dawa, Jaishe
Mohammad etc). All this is related to our infatuation with Kashmir.

And
withdrawal of support at FATF must also make the civil-military elites realise
that the policy of using non-state actors for foreign policy objectives (be it
the lashkar, the jaish or appeasement of Haqqanis) enjoys zero tolerance among
the international community.

In
retrospect, there is little doubt that the romance with the word K (read
Kashmir) has bled Pakistan profusely. It has generated a dynamic that has
become a financial noose around the country’s neck.

For
sure, this policy has outlived its utility and it is about time to bury it
before it hurts us like t has never before. For too long has the core of
decision-makers dragged its feet in drawing lessons from the UN Security
Council Resolutions No1,333 (sanctions on Taliban), and No1,267 (sanctions on
individuals and entities associated with Al-Qaeda).

Quite
tragic that as politicians and the military establishment slug it out on the
domestic front, they have blatantly ignored the battering that the country’s
image has taken abroad – primarily because of their short-term institutional or
personal interests.

Issues
such as at least nine closures of the Torkham border within 12 months has also
fed into this image as well as into the Indo-US narrative on Pakistan’s
‘mindless actions’ that keep hurting Indian and Afghan interests.

These
border closures have not only hurt individual Pakistani and Afghan businessmen
but also jeopardised tens of thousands of jobs, directly caused decline in
Pakistani exports to Afghanistan, and retaliatory measures by President Ghani (barring
Pakistani trucks from entering Afghanistan).

Even
on normal days, the chaos on Pakistan’s Torkham and Chamman borders presents a
view that reminds you of a border of an under-developed country suffering
perpetual bouts of conflicts.

The
tug of war of interests among security institutions, customs authorities, and
other bureaucracies have all combined to prevent big progress on these critical
choke points.

Resultantly,
the bilateral trade has diminished from the high of $2.7 billion in 2013 to
$1.2 in 2017. Afghan traders have also shifted their trade to Iran and
Uzbekistan and China via Iran to avoid losses arising out of frequent border
closures.

Similarly,
despite hosting Afghan refugees, Pakistan has yet to devise an honourable
policy for those born here to Afghan families; expecting these Pakistan-born
youth to return to a country totally alien to them.

All
these years, officials – both military and civilian – have parroted a
stereotypical narrative on refugees, linking them all to crime and terrorism,
to make a case for their return. But recently, General Qadir Baloch, the
federal minister for SAFRON, told a visiting Afghan delegation that not a
single refugee was found involved in terrorism. Why bracket all of them all
with terrorism then, and make a case for their repatriation?

Gawadar
town represents another example of the cumulative institutional paralysis;
while all top-notches are singing the CPEC song, the town itself is struggling
with acute electricity and water shortages. Construction of the new airport,
for which the Chinese made $259 million available over a year ago, has not
started yet. Both provincial and federal authorities are trading allegations
and shifting blames for the multiple crises that Gawadar’s residents and
businesses are facing. It is an alarming situation that requires all
institutions to sit together for a coordinated, smarter and visionary way
forward to beat the odds that increasing by the day.

About Me

Dr Shabir Choudhry has done extensive research on the issue of Kashmir and Indo Pakistan relations. He passed BA Honours in Politics and History, and Mphil in International Relations (title of the thesis, ‘Kashmir and Partition of India’); and title of his PhD thesis is ‘Kashmir- An issue of a nation not a dispute of a land’.

Apart from this Dr Shabir Choudhry passed Post Graduates Certificates in Education, and NVQ Assessor’s qualifications; and taught English in London.

Political Achievements

Founder member of JKLF (Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front established in 1977) and got elected as a Press Secretary in 1984.

Became its Secretary General in 1985, and resigned from this post in 1996.

Got elected President of JKLF and Europe in May 1999, and decided not to contest in elections of July 2001.

Said good - bye to the JKLF as it is in many groups and is largely seen as advancing a Pakistani agenda on Kashmir dispute, and set up a new party Kashmir National Party in May 2008.

.

At present, he is:

·Spokesman Kashmir National Party and Director Diplomatic Committee;

·Spokesman for International KashmirAlliance;

·Founder member and Director Institute of Kashmir Affairs;

Previously

·A founder Member and Trustee/ Director of London based registered charity, Kashmir Foundation International and resigned from this position in August 2001.

·Regularly take part in the Sessions of the UN Human Rights (Commission) now Council in Geneva; and address various conferences and seminars to oppose violence and highlight the Kashmir cause.

·Participated in a Round Table Conference on Kashmir, organised by Socialist Group of European Parliament in Brussels in 1993.

·Addressed as a Chief Guest in a seminar on issue of Mangla Dam during the UN Sub Commission’s proceedings in August 2003.

·Addressed as a key - note speaker in a seminar on the issue of Gilgit and Baltistan, organised by Association of British Kashmiris.

·Addressed as a keynote speaker on human rights conference in Paris in 1991.

·Addressed at CambridgeUniversity as a Chief Guest in a conference on Kashmir in 1990.

·Addressed as a keynote speaker at New Delhi conference on Kashmir, which was part of Track Two diplomacy in November 2000.

·In September 2008, addressed a Conference arranged by Interfaith International in Geneva, topic of which was:“Kashmir Issue, Terrorism and Human Rights”.

·Addressed as a speaker in a NGO Conference on Self - Determination in Geneva in August 2000.

·Addressed as a keynote speaker in a fringe meeting of Liberal Democrats at their Annual Conference in Brighton in 1995.

·Participated in World Human Rights Conference in Vienna in 1993.

·Before President Clinton's visit to India and Pakistan in 2000, lead a JKLF delegation to the State Department to discuss Kashmir dispute and situation in South Asia.

·Also had two rounds of meetings with senior State Department officials before President Musharraf’s meeting to Washington in June 2003.

·Apart from that had meetings with senior officials including Ministers of different countries, and also held many meetings with the State Department and Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials on number of occasions.

·Played important role in advancing a Kashmiri perspective on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir; and also helped Baroness Emma Nicholson with her report ‘Kashmir: present situation and future prospects’, which was adopted by the European Parliament in May 2007.

·Won first prize in an essay competition in Urdu in 1976. It was organised by High Commission of Pakistan in London, and title of the essay was 'Qaaid-e- Azam's role in Islamic History'.

·Apart from that have addressed conferences in Brussels, Geneva, Toronto, Islamabad, Delhi, and

Publications

·Got first Urdu novel ‘Fareena’ published at the age of eighteen.

·Second Urdu novel ‘Bay-Khataa’ which was about the problems of Asian youths living in UK published in 1983.

·Third Urdu book ‘Pakistan and Kashmiri struggle for independence’ published in 1990.

·Fourth Urdu book is also on Kashmiri struggle, 'Is an independent Kashmir a conspiracy?'

·Apart from that has twenty books and booklets published in English on various aspects of the Kashmiri struggle.

·Recent publications are: Kashmir dispute as I see it

·Different perspective on Kashmir

·JKLF visit to Pakistan Administered Kashmir

·Kashmir Needs Change of Heart

·If not self - determination then what?

·Emma Nicholson report- who has won?

·Struggle for independence, Jihad or proxy war (Introduction by Baroness Emma Nicholson)

·

Future publications

Following books were completed some time ago and shall be published in near future:

In Search of Freedom - My visit to Srinagar and Islamabad

Kashmir and Partition of India

A brief background

Dr Shabir Choudhry was born in a small village called Nakker Shimali (near Panjeri) in District Bhimber, Azad Kashmir. He went to UK in 1966, and like other people from the region, holds a dual nationality. He left secondary school in 1970 with no qualifications and began his life as a textile worker.

In 1975 he started part time studies and passed Matriculation from Government High School Panjeri, passed ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels from UK, and resumed full time degree course in 1981, and passed BA (Hons) in Politics and History in 1984.

He continued full time and part time jobs until he got his Mphil. He passed his PGCE (Post Graduates Certificate in Education) in 1990, and then started full time job as a Lecturer. Due to health problems he resigned from teaching in 1999. At present he is self - employed, provides private tuition, translation and interpretation and consultancy.

Through out his adult life he has actively worked for the cause of Kashmir, and even during long illness he effectively carried out his responsibilities as a leader of the JKLF, a ‘prolific writer’ and consistent campaigner of Rights Movement and peace in Jammu and Kashmir and South Asia.